Sleepless in Seattle Houseboat

The Sleepless in Seattle houseboat — I guess we can’t very well have a Seattle houseboats and floating homes blog without having at least one story or post about the Sleepless in Seattle Houseboat!

It is a gorgeous home, but the fact of the matter is I heard that Tom Hanks didn’t film many of the scenes inside the actual floating home in Seattle. The exterior shots of him, though, are pretty unforgettable, and it brings many people out in droves as one of the must see items in Seattle. (ps — I took this picture a long time ago before a paint job)

Spotting the Sleepless in Seattle Houseboat: Unless you are on a boat, though, or across the lake with a telephoto lens, you are going to have a tough time getting a peek at this iconic Hollywood Seattle floating home. The dock is privately owned. Your best shot actually at seeing the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat if you are in town and don’t have a boat of your own to tool around Lake Union is to take the Ride The Ducks Tour by the Seattle Center. Try and sit on the right side of the bus/boat and wait for the tour guide to point it out along the way. The Sleepless in Seattle Houseboat is on the end of its Westlake dock and pretty significant in size compared to other floating homes.

Larger and not typical of Seattle floating homes — Keep in mind if you are thinking about buying a floating home that this particular houseboat is not very typical of Seattle floating homes in general. It is actually pretty spectacular even compared to the more modern Roanoke Reef floating homes or even the modern stucco 3000 square feet floating homes going in on the Eastlake side of Lake Union over the last few years. The Sleepless in Seattle Houseboat has one of the largest if not the largest floats in Lake Union and is also the furthest out on any of the docks that I can think of. The float size is an astounding 68 feet by 40 feet and offers wrap around decks! I would love to get a look at the dive inspection report for this one to see what is under there with the log foundation holding it up.

Putting aside the fact that it is well over 2000 square feet in size and has four bedrooms, these other individual characteristics set it apart pretty significantly. The Sleepless in Seattle houseboat will always hold a special place in my heart.